ACT! The Guwahati incident would’ve been yet another crime against women- except that, as the shocking images played out, it became a tipping point. Platitudes will no longer work. In cold, hard stats, here is the reality of women in India. Change this reality.NowWomen who is protected in her adolescence by the father, in her youth by her husband, and in her old age by her son, deserver no freedom at any time. Thousands of years after the Manusmriti prescribed a very restrictive code of conduct foe women, Indian society is refusing to look beyond it. Every time one thanks that the condition of women has improved, there is a Guwahati or a Bhagpat- a minor girl is molested and stripped by a mob in public or a Khap panchayat issues a fatwa that women can’t use cell phones and dare not go out without covering their faces. One is forced to rethink.When Indian constitutions came into force on January 26, 1950, we opted for universal adult franchise at a time when women did not having voting rightsin many of the western countries, including Switzerland.Today, we have a women president, a women speaker, a women chairperson of the ruling coalition and several successful women in various fields.Notwithstanding these achievements, 65 years after independence, the condition of women in general is deteriorating. Today a women is not safe if she is not in the company of her father, husband or son. This ironically justifies the Manusmriti.

According to a study by the south India cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring, one woman is molested every 26 minutes. One woman is raped every 34 minutes.

Almost five lakh girls are killed every year even before they are born. One-fourth of the 15 million girls born every year don’t get to celebrate their 15^th birthday. Around 1,000 honour killings take place every year.

According to “UN human development report 2011”, India ranks a low 134 among 187 countries in terms of the human development index,  thanks to the gender inequality practiced in the country.

Fifteen years after the Supreme Court Laid down guidelines to deal with sexual harassment at workplace, India is still struggling to have a proper law to deal with the issue. It’s taken 12 years for the government to consider the Law Commission 172^nd Report on Review of Rape Laws and propose changes in the Indian Penal Code. God knows how much more time will it take to translate the bill approved by the Cabinet on july 19 into a proper Law?

Enough in enough. The time for talk is over, here’s how things stack up and the reasons why action needs to be taken. As to yesterday.